Difference in Reality
by ALovelyLie
Summary: Pokemon isn't all fun and games, and Ashlyn and Leo realize this the hard way when one day they're suddenly sucked into the Pokemon universe. They face the real side of Pokemon - blood, crime, death - and in between all of this they still have to survive.
1. Let's Begin

_Alas, welcome to my humble fanfic. _

_Rated T for language and possible gore in later chapters.  
><em>

_Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon. Derp._

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><p><strong>I; Let's Begin<strong>

It was on a Saturday morning that a little girl of five realized how perfect her name was for her.

Normally, when the girl watched cartoons during the weekends, she stuck to Disney channel. They were her favorites, after all. It was only due to the fact that an episode began showing that had she seen for most likely the hundredth time that she flipped to a different channel. The show that was playing?

None other than Pokemon, of course.

And as this girl watched the crazy little antics of Ash and his friends unfold before her on the screen – Brock swooning over all the pretty girls, Misty diligently keeping him in check, Team Rocket blasting off into space, and most of all Ash and Pikachu never failing to save the day and making the girl smile a grin so huge that her face ached afterward... Well, the girl fell in love. With all of it.

And why was it that from that point on this girl's name suddenly seemed like the best thing in the world to her?

Because her name was Ash.

Ashlyn, really. But that's beside the point.

* * *

><p>A sly grin crept onto her lips. "Game over."<p>

She watched with amusement as her opponent's health bar slowly depleted and then blink out of existence. She rose to her feet, one fist punching the air in victory, the other clutching the DS and waving it tauntingly in her opponent's face.

"Ok Ash, we all get it. You won. Now sit down before we get kicked out of the library, you idiot."

Ashlyn stuck her tongue out at him as she took her seat. "Seriously Leo, that was pitiful. Your team was stronger than mine and I _still_ won. I told you that Nidoking was a beast."

The dark-haired boy waved away her words with his hand and leaned back in his chair, sighing. They had been talking about this battle for weeks, but both had been forced to keep putting it off because of their active schedules. And now that he had just lost after all the smack talk they had delivered to each other… Well, he needed a few moments for a breather.

He noticed that neither one had progressed the dialogue after the final blow had been dealt and he couldn't resist the idea that popped into his head. In one quick movement, he pressed the off button on his DS and prepared for the worst.

It took her a few seconds to realize what had happened, and Leo braced himself to sprint out the door for the throttling that he was sure to receive. But surprisingly enough, she laughed, completely and totally amused.

"You little fucker," she happily told him after her laughter ceased.

He shrugged his shoulders and grinned, a gesture that said '_I try_.'

They lapsed into a comfortable silence as Ashlyn exited the multiplayer room and saved her game. Leo watched her, his gaze lazily traveling over her features. Long, chocolate brown hair, blemish free skin, and the most entrancing eyes he had ever seen on any person. As if she were reading his thoughts, she looked up and met his gaze. An amused grin spread on her lips.

"I know, I'm beautiful. Now as we agreed, you're going to treat me to lunch. Right? Right."

Before he could protest either statement, she was already making her way toward the exit, skipping happily part of the way there. She stopped at the doors and stared him down, willing him to hurry faster. Ever the gentleman, he stopped completely in his tracks, a cheeky grin plastered onto his face. Although he began to feel the daggers from her stare, he gave her a little wave and stuck his tongue out at her. They each stood like this for a minute or so, before Ashlyn was forced to concede and had to move out of the doorway so somebody could enter.

At her defeat, Leo smiled happily at his small victory and pranced over to where she was. Still smiling that pleasantly annoying little grin, he did what she had wanted him to do that whole time and held the door open for her. When she didn't move, he bowed and gestured with a little flourish of the hand. That was what moved her.

"Thank you, sir," she said haughtily as she walked out of the exit with her chin arrogantly held high.

"Of course, madam. Is there anything else I could do for you on this fine day?" His voice slipped into a slight accent as he said this while he trailed dutifully at her side.

"I would like to dine somewhere, as I requested earlier." She reached the street where cars were busily racing pass.

"I terribly apologize madam, but your servant is a lowly fool who has barely enough money to feed his starving family."

Ash barked out a laugh. "And who's fault is that?"

"Yours, madam."

Without a moment's hesitation, Ash whipped around and mock slapped him. Leo stealthily clapped at the exact moment her hand flew by his face, making a convincing scene to anybody who happened to be watching, which actually turned out to be a few people at the moment. He fell sprawling to the ground, clutching his 'injured' cheek.

"Insolent fool. Now get off your lazy ass and clear the street for me."

He hurriedly got up to do her bidding, nodding furiously and apologizing profusely. Leo stood at the edge of the street as a car went by, and then walked to the middle of the street and stood his ground on the striped lines. As if he were a policeman, he held both arms out with his palms flat out and facing each direction. A car threatened to just go on anyway, but Leo took a step into its lane, forcing it to stop.

Ashlyn took the moment to begin crossing, doing her part to look as high and mighty as possible. Although a few cars had been honking at Leo, the noise increased tenfold as drivers realized what joke the two teenagers were trying to pull. As soon as Ash was safely on the other side, Leo sprinted to the sidewalk. They caught each other's eyes and immediately broke out into laughter.

Someone who they vaguely recognized from their grade began clapping, and Leo bowed extravagantly as Ash curtsied with her imaginary skirts.

When their laughs finally began to fade away, a low grumble erupted from Ash's stomach. A faint red tinge colored her face and Leo couldn't help but chuckle.

She pursed her lips in annoyance. "Oh, I wouldn't be laughing if I were you. I wasn't kidding when I said you were paying for my lunch."

* * *

><p>Ash sipped her coffee delicately, a smug look touching upon her features. At the other side of the table was where Leo was sitting, moodily glaring down at his hands. Every so often he would glance up and meet a pair of eyes that would crinkle with amusement. He would immediately stare back down and fiddle his fingers.<p>

After their little show, they had found their way to the local Dunkin Donuts. It was there that Leo once again insisted he didn't have enough money for both of them to have something. As such, Ashlyn was the only one who ended up getting a drink, leaving Leo thirsty and broke.

Although sometimes it was annoying, Ash found his little mood swings absolutely adorable. She knew there was no real bad blood between them – she wasn't even sure if that was possible – and besides, he was a man. Men are supposed to do chivalrous things for ladies, including buying them a drink with the money they had left. She giggled at the absurdity of her logic. Leo looked up once more, raising an eyebrow that clearly questioned her sanity. She smiled and waved it off.

Once Ash had finished her coffee, making sure to loudly slurp whatever remained, she tossed it in the trash and lounged lazily at her chair. Leo leaned forward, placing his elbows on the table and rested his head in his hands.

"What now?" he questioned, sounding slightly bored.

She mimicked his position, and considering how small the table was, they were nearly nose to nose. Suddenly, her eyes brightened as an idea lit her mind.

"Oh, I know what we should do," she purred, leaning even closer to his face.

"Tell me." His voice was low and husky as he searched her eyes. In this light, they were a bright green.

Ash leaned toward his ear, breathing lightly against his skin. They were both mindful of the fact that they were in a public place. "How about I…"

"Go on," he urged, his hand reaching toward his pants.

The next words that Ash spoke were directly next to his ear. "Kick your ass again in a rematch?"

At the same moment, they both pulled back, smiling wickedly. Leo slipped his DS out from his front pants pocket as Ash opened her purse to retrieve hers. The few customers in line and some of the staff behind the counter either had expressions of relief or absolute horror on their faces.

And it amused both Ash and Leo to no end.

* * *

><p>By the time the sun had begun to set, Ash and Leo were walking home. Actually, it was more like Leo was escorting Ash home, but practically a second home to him nonetheless.<p>

Ash's house was your average thing – a split-level home with a flowering garden in front. The inside was cozy and filled with comfortable couches, quaint decorations, and family pictures, of which Leo himself was in a few. Ash's mom was sitting in the dining room reading a book, and both teenagers greeted her as Mom. They were heading towards Ash's room, and her mom had no objection to that. Although they had never said it directly to her, she had clearly noticed that there was no romance between them, despite their little shows of affection.

Inside Ash's room, Leo immediately made himself comfortable on the bed, pausing only once to take off his shoes. The room itself was dominated by a queen-sized bed, which although was pushed off to a corner of the wall, was the immediate object of focus. On the opposite corner was a desk with a few personal objects resting on it. One of these was a picture of Ash and Leo that had been taken a year before during the summer before they became sophomore. In the picture, he had one arm around her shoulders pulling her close and Ash had her arms wrapped his waist, both beaming smiles at the camera. The sun had changed Ash's eyes to a hazel while Leo's blue eyes shone brightly. If a stranger were to look at the picture, they would have easily thought that the two were a couple.

"Mind if I sleep over tonight?" Leo asked as he rolled around on the bed.

Taking off her own shoes, Ash plopped onto the bed and sat roughly on his back, knocking the breath out of him. "Do you even need to ask?"

He chuckled as he squirmed his way out from underneath her and headed towards the dresser. One drawer had been cleared specifically for him, which included spare clothes, toiletries, and other things of the sort. He began to take his shirt off, only bothering to face away from Ash as she rolled so she was looking in the opposite direction as well. She knew when he was done because he simple plopped into the bed next to her.

"Oh no, no, no. You're sleeping on the floor," she chided, immediately straining to push him off the bed. And failing miserably.

"Oh, c'mon! But you're bed is _so_ much more comfortable," he pleaded, voice raising a notch as he put on his best puppy dog eyes.

Ash rolled her eyes in exasperation at his whining as Leo allowed her to push him off the bed and then shepherd him toward the door. "Let me change." With that said, she closed the door on him and turned the lock.

Outside, there was a pitiful moaning noise as Leo began wailing out his miseries.

"It's so cold on the floor…"

"I'll be lonely…"

"Oh look, it's King. C'mere boy, give me your warmth…"

A breath of exasperation left her as Ash pulled on her last bit of nightwear and stalked over to the door. Oh _why_ exactly did she put up with him? When she opened it, she was met with the site of Leo desperately trying to cuddle with her German Shepard. "Oh god, if you stop molesting my dog I'll let you sleep in my bed."

Leo bounced up to his feet for some reason still holding King. He struggled to hold the squirming dog in his hands and was soon forced to put him down.

She huffed at the treatment of her dog, but said nothing. King was just as used to it as she was. Ash picked a book off her table and plopped onto her bed and turned on a lamp. "Now here's the situation," she began, staring sternly at Leo. He smiled innocently at her as he made himself comfortable on the opposite end of her bed. "I am going to read. You are going to be quiet. Once I'm done, I will peacefully go to sleep as if you were never here." Ash paused, making sure that he had understood it all. "Got it?"

"Got it." To emphasize this, he mimed zipping his mouth shut. Although that sly, devilish grin that he had just zipped said otherwise.

But surprising enough to Ash, he kept true to his word. The only time he spoke was when he asked for a book so he could read as well. An hour or so later, Ash called it quits and turned out the light.

Although it was fall, the body heat from Leo made it warm enough so that she eventually kicked off the sheets. Of course, he immediately pulled them back up. A minute later after some struggling, Ash was resting on top of her sheets with Leo pinned beneath them. Just an ordinary night.

Several minutes later, a soft voice snapped Ash out of her doze. She flinched as if someone had made a lunge to punch her and opened her eyes wide in confusion. She was met with Leo's soft gaze inches from her own, slightly apologetic at disturbing her.

"Yes, Leo?"

His gaze lingered on her for a moment, and then he looked away. "Never mind."

She was tempted to press him, but the look on his face before he rolled onto his other side told her that he wasn't ready to talk. Damn bastard, ruining her sleep for nothing. She would have throttled anybody else but for Leo, well, she would let them both get their rest.

Because although they didn't know it, tomorrow, they would need it.

* * *

><p>Ash awoke to numbness in one leg and a weight across her chest. Her eyes flickered open to a slightly disturbing sight, but one that she wasn't very surprised to see. Leo had somehow turned around completely in his sleep without waking Ash (not for the first time) and was using her leg as a pillow. Meanwhile, his own leg was thrown across her body with his feet dangling just inches away from her face.<p>

Whenever that happened, Ash had a sinking suspicion that he slept that way on purpose.

Grunting from the effort, she tossed his leg to the side and quickly removed his 'pillow' out from under him. Ash then shook him until he responded with a weak flailing of his hand and mumbled a few pleas for five more minutes.

"No, Leo, get your ass up now. I have stuff to do today," she said. When he continued to lay motionless, she resorted to attacking him violently with a pillow.

A typical morning.

* * *

><p>Leo lay in a tangle of sheets in his own bed. He had been kicked out of Ash's house several hours ago and it was now late in the afternoon. He'd had a productive day – and by productive, that mean he had successfully leveled up his Pokemon a few more levels. One day, Ash would be going down. An evil chuckle escaped Leo's lips at the thought.<p>

Suddenly, music filled the room, and Leo groped blindly around his bed for his phone. He checked the caller ID, and speaking of the devil, it was Ash herself.

He accepted the call and changed it so speaker so he could use both hands to play his DS. Instead of greeting her, he began breathing deeply and as creepily as he could.

"Yessir, you sound awfully creepy with the Pokemon battle music playing in the background. I am so scared." Ash had so completely deadpanned the ending that Leo harrumphed, insulted. But Ash could hear the laughter being held back in his voice.

"Oh, shut up! So what exactly do you want?" he asked, chiding her slightly.

"Well, I-" That was all she managed to say before Leo brutally cut her off.

"WAIT! What was that? I'm sorry, it's hard to hear you since you know, you kinda kicked me out of your house and all that." As he was saying that, he felt like could literally feel Ash rolling his eyes at him.

"Jeez, you're still sore about that? I forgot that I had soccer practice today. And I didn't think you'd want to tag along when you hate the captain," she mused.

Leo grumbled his agreement. It was true – the next time he saw Alli would be a lifetime too soon. That rotten bitch.

"I still don't understand why you hate her so much. She's not _that_ bad."

A harsh laugh escaped Leo's mouth. "Please," he said dryly, "save me the time and stop talking about her. Now what were you saying before you suddenly got cut off for some unknown reason?"

Once again, Leo could practically see her eyes rolling, but she choose not pursue the matter any further.

"I found something pretty cool. Come over and I'll show it to you."

Leo waited for more, but that was all she said. "That's it? That's all you're telling me?"

"Yup."

He groaned at how annoying that answer was. She _knew _that by not telling him any details, he'd have to go to her house just to satiate his curiosity. That rotten bitch.

"Fine, I'll be there in a few." Without waiting for her reply, he hung up immediately which was something she absolutely despised. Who ever said acting like a kid was a bad thing?

* * *

><p>As promised, Leo was at the Royals' household within twenty minutes, waiting for somebody to open the door. He had asked Ash if he could have a spare key in the case of an emergency, but she had simply laughed in his face. When he thought about it later, he realized that she had made a wise choice.<p>

A few seconds later, a very… relaxed looking Ash answered the door. She had a grin on her face as she greeted him, but it was the smile she gave him everyday. Despite the fact that she didn't sound excited over the phone, he still had been hoping for _some_ kind of reaction when he finally showed up. Jeez, anything at this point would have been ok! The curiosity was completely eating away at him and Ash's reaction (or lack thereof) was unsettling.

Or was he just over thinking the whole thing? Or what if she was playing the whole thing down on purpose just to watch him squirm? It _was_ something she would do and oh man, now he was just sounding paranoid.

Be cool. Oh yeah Leo, you got this.

He followed Ash up to her room wearing a lazy grin, hoping to turn the tide on Ash by not giving her the satisfaction of watching him twitch. Maybe that would get _some_ kind of reaction out of her.

It didn't work.

* * *

><p>It took a few seconds for Leo to realize what he had been staring at.<p>

"That's it?" He asked, trying to hide his disappointment. _This_ is what he had been dying to find out about?

Ash scoffed, an amused grin working its way up her lips. "I never said it was anything spectacular," she mused.

"You didn't say much at all, really," he grumbled.

In Ash's hands was a small, black video game cartridge. Even though he hadn't seen something like it in years, Leo knew that it was for a Game Boy, the object that had been the salvation of his childhood. It had no label or sticker to indicate what game it was. Now this, Leo found interesting.

"You know what game it is?" he asked. He was met with another amused grin.

"Look closer," she commanded and handed the cartridge over to him. After a few seconds of furious squinting and turning the game over and over in his hands, he found it. At the very bottom of what he assumed was the front of the cartridge was extremely small writing that had been neatly ingrained into the plastic. It simply said, 'POKEMON.'

A small frown turned down the corners of Leo's lips. "That's it?" He turned to Ash, raising an eyebrow in confusion.

She gave him a small nod in return. "Yup, it doesn't even say which one." She motioned for him to return the cartridge and he handed it over willingly. "I found it while I was walking home," she added. Leo was about to question if she thought it belonged to anybody when he realized that that was their loss. And besides, there a slight layer of dirt over the surface along with a few scratches, so he figured it hadn't been left there recently.

It was then that Leo noticed the Game Boy sitting on her bed. It was a pitiful thing to look at, with the color all faded and scratch marks littering the surface. But hell, it sure did bring back a wave of memories.

Ash noticed what he was looking at and chuckled as if she had read his thoughts. "Old, I know. I'm lucky that my parents like to keep everything from when I was a kid, but I had to dig through a shitload of boxes to find that thing." She paused and then tilted her head to the side and grimaced slightly. "I also found an old Barbie doll of mine. But its hair had been cut off and it was missing an arm…"

Leo couldn't help the laughter that burst from his lips. "I'm not very surprised that you weren't a Barbie kid," he said, amused. He then moved to her bed and picked up the Game Boy gingerly as if it might just crumble away in his hands. Ten years for any piece of technology meant that it was old as hell.

"So, let's try this bad boy out?" he asked, that signature devilish grin lighting up his face.

Ash matched his grin and plopped down onto the bed next to him. She wiped off the dirt on the surface with her shirt and decided to blow air into the bottom of it as well. She wistfully remembered when you had to do that for all of your games when they were dirty or when they didn't work. When she was done cleaning it, her hand hovered with the cartridge over the slot in the Game Boy. She half expected the game to not fit, but it slid into the slot just fine.

"Wait," Leo told her. He left her room and she could hear the sounds of him going downstairs. She waited patiently for a minute, wondering if she should just start without him. At that moment, he returned, holding some batteries in his hand. She only wondered for a second where and why he got them, but then it hit her and Ash could have hit herself at her stupidity. Of _course_ it would need new batteries, the damn thing had been rotting in her attic for more than a decade. She thanked him quickly and set to work replacing the batteries. When she was done, she knew that they could begin playing.

Suddenly, Ash felt inexplicably nervous. Leo must have felt it also because he touched her wrist gently. Ash glanced over to him and was immediately comforted by his soft gaze. "It's just a game," he reminded her.

Ash nodded firmly. "It's just a game," she echoed. No matter how shady the circumstances were of how she found it... "Just a game…"

She slid the switch to the ON position. A flash of white blinded her senses. Before a coherent thought could form in her mind, she blacked out.

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><p><em>Ahhh, I know, not a lot of Pokemon in this. But I just wanted to introduce you guys to the heroes of the story. You know, see what they're like and what now. And it also allowed me to get a feel for their personalities, of which I'm still working on.<em>

_In the next chapter, things will get more interesting. I can assure you of that. _

_P.S. I had originally intended Ashlyn to be my sole main character... But I got really attached to Leo as I was writing this. Haha, I wonder what'll happen to them._


	2. Simple Facts

**II; Simple Facts**

Pain. That's all what mattered to Ash as her mind flickered to life. An immense and throbbing pain that spread throughout her whole body. She heard some pitiful soul groaning and it took her a moment to realize that she was the one making the noise. When she could finally bear to open her eyes, confusion filled her. Why the hell was she staring at grass? The last thing she could remember was… Well, she'd figure that out later.

With another noise of agony slipping through her lips, she forced her arms to move and support her as she sat up. Somehow, she had managed to land herself in a clearing in the middle of the forest. Above her, the sun beat down and that was when Ash noticed there was a slick sheen of sweat on her forehead. Wait, sweat? This struck a warning bell in her mind, but she was too dazed to figure out it.

It was at that moment that Ash noticed a body at the edge of the clearing. She could feel her heart stop in its tracks. "Leo?" she tried to say, but all that came out was a raspy whisper. She cleared her throat as she struggled to her feet. "Leo!" she called out, stumbling her way toward him.

She was scared now. The confusion had begun to clear from her mind enough for her the panic to set in. Where the hell happened to them?

Ash fell to her knees beside Leo, shaking him roughly by the shoulders. "Leo! Leo! Christ Leo, tell me you're ok!"

His reaction was one that made her laugh out loud in shaky relief. "Five more minutes," he mumbled, hand lazily waving her away. At the same moment, he face scrunched up in pain. "Jesus Christ, my fucking head," he cursed as his hands rose to grip his head. One of his eyes squinted open to find Ash sitting beside him. In the same glance, he noticed the forest serving as a backdrop. Another wave of agony shot through him and his eyes immediately slammed shut as he groaned in pain.

"What the hell Ash, did we get drunk or something?" he said between gritted teeth.

She began shaking her head before she realized that his eyes were still closed. "I don't think so, but what the hell do I know? I don't remember a single thing," she mused. The pain had eased down to a bearable level, one that if she chose not to think about, it wasn't that bad. She rubbed Leo's back in small circles in an attempt to comfort him as she tried to figure out this mess. Ok, so she could remember last night which had been spent with Leo. This morning, she kicked him out of the house and went to soccer practice. On her way home…

Ash's eyes widened as her hand flew to her mouth. The rest of the memories were now clear in her mind, the last thing of course was when she pushed the power button on the Game Boy. It was then that she noticed why she found it odd that she had been sweating. To simply put it, it was autumn and the temperature was in the mid fifties when she had been walking home. Now here it was suddenly hot enough to make her sweat? That was just not possible. Unless somehow they had managed to make it out of the state…

She began shaking Leo once more, who was now starting to come to relax. "Oh God Leo, I think we have been kidnapped or some-"

Rubbing his eyes, Leo sat up and wondered why she had stopped talking in mid-sentence. Kidnapped? How ridiculous. They probably had just gotten insanely drunk and had passed out in the middle of the forest.

He could feel Ash's nails on his shoulders suddenly dig into his skin and it was then that her silence seemed wrong. He snapped his eyes open and there, just about 50 feet away from them was a giant purple rat.

A silence stretched among them as Leo and Ash stared in awe at the creature before them. "You're seeing that, right?" Leo whispered. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw her give a small, terrified nod.

Although he could understand her being scared, Leo thought that maybe she was overreacting just a bit. It wasn't that big – it would probably go up to his calf if he stood right next to it – and the only real intimidating thing about it was those teeth. Two front teeth dominated its mouth... and now that he thought about it, maybe Ash did have a right to be terrified. Those teeth looked like they could bite an arm off.

"Stay behind me," he murmured and she all too willingly obliged as she crawled behind him. The movement must have aggravated the animal-thing because it immediately bared its teeth, hissing. Leo's eyes scanned the area for a weapon, and his gaze settled on a large, thick branch just a few feet away. He lunged for it just as the creature hissed again and started sprinting in their direction. Leo stood his ground, holding the branch firmly in his hands, ready to swing. He faintly heard Ash scream, but he ignored it.

The rat leaped in the air as Leo swung. He could hear the slight crunch as he made contact, hitting it hard enough to send it flying into some bushes and out of sight. Relaxing slightly, he lowered the branch and tried to calm his rapid breathing. Turning to Ash, he gave her a weak smile, trying to comfort her. She responded with her small grin, but it was clear she was doing that just so Leo would think she was ok. He wasn't buying it.

Suddenly, the rat sprung out from the bushes and raced toward Leo. It was insanely faster this time and before he could react, the rat had slammed into Leo's legs, knocking him into the ground. He was left breathless for a second before the rat sunk its teeth into Leo's leg. A scream filled the air as agony shot through him. The pain he had felt before was nothing compared to this.

The sight of the rat biting Leo almost made Ash begin screaming herself. But there was no way in hell she'd let some fucking rat on steroids do that to him. She was sprinting at it before she even realized what she was doing and when she reached Leo, she put all her strength into kicking the rat right off of his leg. Soccer had her well prepared – the rat went flying off of him and luckily right into a tree.

Ash was still terrified, but that didn't stop her from plucking the branch out of Leo's hands and walking over to the rat. She raised her hands above her head but stopped herself. Jesus Christ, was she really going to kill the thing? She had never killed anything bigger than an ant before in her life and now she was going to cruelly bludgeon this thing to death?

But as soon as the rat twitched and made an effort to get up, the answer was made clear to Ash. She brought down the branch on its head and squeezed her eyes shut as blood splattered onto her face. The sight that beheld her when she opened her eyes was enough to make bile rise to her throat, but with an effort, she forced it down. She threw the stick down to her side as she wiped the blood off her face. For some reason, she was relieved to see that it red and not some crazy neon color like she had been expecting.

"Ash." The sound of Leo's voice was enough to snap her back to her sense. She ran to him and almost retched again at how much his leg was bleeding. He was going to pass out soon and she didn't want to think of what was going to happen if she didn't find help and fast. She took off her jacket and wrapped it as tight as she could around the bite wounds on his calf, silently commending Leo for how well he seemed to be taking the pain. Although he had broken out into a sweat and it was clear he was in agony, Ash was sure that if it had happened to her, she'd be screaming her head off.

"Can you stand?"

"Let's see," he gritted out.

Supporting him on his injured side, he attempted to walk and nearly screamed when he tried using his injured left leg. Ash considered leaving him here while she went to find help, but there was no way Leo could defend himself now if one of those rats came back. "Ok then, you're just going to have to hop," she told him. It seemed he understood the circumstances as well because he just wearily nodded in agreement.

With one hand slung around Ash for support, she was forced to bear the brunt of his weight every time he took a step. But they were both determined as hell to get through this.

About five minutes later Ash caught sight of a building and soon after, a person. "Hey, we need help!" she screamed at him. The man turned his head and as soon as he caught site of them he immediately sprinted over. As soon as the man saw Leo's leg, his eyes widened and color drained from his face. Did it really look that bad even with the jacket acting as a bandage? She looked at his leg as well and saw that the blood had completely soaked through her jacket. Oh.

However, the man quickly gained his composure as he went to support Leo's other side. It was a good thing too, because at this point Leo was practically leaning all of his weight on Ash and she feared he was going to just pass out on her.

"I don't have a car, but the town isn't that far. We can make it if we hurry," the man urged. Ash didn't need to be told twice. Although Leo no longer had the strength to move on his own, they were moving faster now with the stranger's help. And he wasn't lying when he said it was near.

Just a few short minutes later, the man was rushing them in the direction of building. The only thing that Ash bothered to notice was that the roof of the building was red… And then they were inside. A pink haired nurse only finished half of a cheery welcome before she noticed the wound.

"I need a cart in here, stat!" she shouted. Moments later, two pink blob creatures rushed in with a cart as they gently pushed Ash and the man to the side and then lifted Leo onto the cart. They were rushing him into a hallway with some other nurses closely behind.

Then, another pink creature came up to Ash, motioning her to follow. She looked down at it, looking at it with a sort of horror on her face. Oh God. This was too much for her. She been trying her best to ignore it until now but this, she couldn't handle.

Simple facts finally decided to reveal themselves in Ash's mind: a rattata had bitten Leo, a stranger had led them to a PokeCenter, and Nurse Joy had just commanded some Chansey to take care of her best friend.

Somehow, she and Leo had landed into the world of Pokemon.


	3. Accepting a Little Truth

**III; Accepting a Little Truth**

Ash swam slowly back into consciousness, choosing to keep her eyes closed and hoped that she would fall back into a dream. Hopefully it would be more pleasant than the last dream she just had. That dream was more like her inner Pokemon fangirl gone wild. In it, Leo had been attacked by a rattata (seriously, you couldn't get any more pitiful than that) and then they had rushed to a PokeCenter for treatment. After Ash had been confronted by some Chanseys, the dream had ended.

She let out a soft sigh, her recollection of the dream all but waking her up. Her eyes flickered open, and the sight that met her almost sent her screaming.

A Chansey was standing next to her bed.

Her eyes slammed shut, Ash berating herself for thinking she had woken up. This was _obviously_ just a continuation of her last dream. She immediately poured all of her will into waking up, into distinguishing reality from her imagination. She did the most typical thing at first – she pinched herself. And when she felt pain, she merely started lightly slapping her face. And when then didn't work and Ash could feel the panic setting in, she sat up in bed (with her eyes still closed) and slapped herself hard.

The stinging in both her hand and cheek was answer enough to Ash.

It hadn't been a dream.

She really was in a Pokemon world.

Slowly, Ash cracked an eye open, as if doing so would be her final admittance to the truth that she had just faced. Yes, the Chansey was still there, albeit it looked a bit worried at Ash's little outburst.

Would it understand her if she talked to it? Well, of course it would. That's what people did in the anime and games all the time. At this thought, Ash fought back a groan. Was that really the knowledge that she was going to rely on? Then again, it's not like she had anything better to work off of.

"I'm fine, really," she said to it, feeling extremely self-conscious. "I just need some time to myself."

It walked away after some more persuasion, but soon enough Ash was by her lonesome. She looked around, trying to get her bearings. She was in a small room, but at least it was private. Somebody had changed her while she was sleeping – she was now in a plain white hospital gown, and she noticed that her clothes, freshly washed by the looks of it, were neatly folded and placed on a nearby chair. On the nightstand next to the bed were her personal affects: cell phone, house keys, and her wallet. These were basically all the things that had been in pocket when she turned on the Game Boy. Ash looked out the window and was greeted by a view of the town, more specifically some houses and… Was that a PokeMart? Oh man.

Slowly, she slid off the bed, stretching and flexing her limbs. She was sore alright, but definitely better off than Leo… Leo! Hurriedly, she changed into her normal clothes, shoved her things into her pockets, and rushed out of the room. In the hallway she spotted a nurse (surprisingly, not a Nurse Joy) and ran over to her. "I need to see my friend! The guy who came here with me – his name is Leo. Oh God, tell me he's alright!"

The nurse nodded in recognition and began leading Ash to a different room. "He lost a fair amount of blood and won't be walking for a bit, but otherwise his condition is fine."

A sigh of relief escaped Ash's lips, and she forced her trembling hands to steady. But she wouldn't really believe the nurse's words until she saw how he was with her own two eyes.

A few moments later the nurse led Ash into a room where Leo was sleeping in a tangle of sheets on a bed. His leg was wrapped in bandages, but otherwise he seemed fine.

"Oh, Leo," she whispered softly to herself, tears forming in the corner of her eyes. Hurriedly, she wiped them away as she went to his bedside and pulled up a chair. She held his hand softly between her own, her gaze being continuously dragged back to the bandages on his leg. A pang of guilt shot through her heart.

Leo's eyelids flickered, and immediately her attention was brought back to him. The first thing he saw was Ash leaning over him, and a lazy grin appeared on his face.

"I had the craziest dream."

Ash paused, unsure of what to say. "Did it involve Pokemon?"

His eyes widened slightly in surprise. "Yeah, how'd you know?"

Well, being straight-forward always worked for her in the past, it would work now as well. She pointed at his leg, which brought a look of puzzlement to his face as he observed the bandages.

"It wasn't a dream, Leo. It actually happened."

"Funny."

"So what the hell do you think happened to your leg?"

"I dunno."

"But you _do_ know what happened. We got attacked by a rattata."

A horrified gasp left Leo's mouth. "Are you high?" His hands fluttered dramatically to his mouth. "And you didn't _share?_"

Ash's eyebrows furrowed together in annoyance. She had somehow managed to accept the fact that they were in some alternate universe. Why couldn't he?

An idea suddenly sparked in her mind. Without another word, she got up and made to leave the room. As she was walking out, Leo's voice called out again. "So you're gunna bring me some shrooms from your stash? I knew we were friends for a reason!"

Even though her back was turned, he knew she was rolling her eyes. Point one goes to Leo, he thought as he chuckled slightly.

Man oh man, Ash must have gone slightly delusional while he was out cold. Sure, he didn't know where he was. And yeah, that dream he had was pretty realistic, but did that mean it was real? Of course not. If it was real, that would mean that he was in a PokeCenter right now recovering from a rattata bite. And that was just silly.

Sure, he had no idea where he was right now or how he had gotten injured, but he had probably just blocked out the memory. He had heard about that kind of stuff on TV and in books and stuff - how the victim of some traumatic incident would forget what had happened because the memory was simply too painful.

That was what had happened to him. Of course.

Well, that was what he thought until Ash entered the room with a Chansey trailing behind her.

His voice caught in his throat the first time he tried to speak, so he cleared his throat and tried again. "That's a nice costume you got there. Who's in there, Shaun? No, he'd never fit in that thing. John? Aaron? What about Holly? She'd so something like that just to freak me out."

"Leo," she said patiently, "this is a real Chansey."

As if to emphasize her point, the Chansey decided to add to their conversation: "Chansey! Chan!" It then hurried over to Leo, adjusting his pillows, checking vitals, taking notes on a clipboard. Once, it's hand brushed across Leo's, and immediately he cringed away. _Holy shit_, he thought,_its hand actually felt like skin – like any normal human_.

He closed his eyes and breathed in deep, willing himself not to pass out.

When he opened his eyes again, the Chansey was gone and Ash was by his bed once more.

"So I guess you're not high after all."

She smiled, but it was a sad one. "I wish I was."

"So we're really in some… alternate universe?"

She stayed silent to this and Leo didn't really expect her to respond. But a second later she leaned forward and rested her head lightly on his shoulder. "I wanna go home, Leo," she whispered.

He sighed, eyes closing once more. He took her hand in his, and she gripped it tightly.

"We'll figure it out." He tried to sound reassuring, but he couldn't even convince himself of that.

"Yeah, I hope so. I really do."


	4. How Bad Can It Be?

_Thank you to my readers for your support! When I get a review and read your messages, it really inspires me to keep writing more._

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><p><strong>IV; How Bad Can It Be? <strong>

After several days in the PokeCenter, the nurses had finally deemed Leo fit to be discharged. Ash had been by his side the whole time, despite his protests. He had urged her to go exploring, saying he didn't want her to feel obliged to stay by his bedside. Of course, she said it wasn't a bother – that she would wait until he was better so they could face this new world together.

Leo knew she was lying, but he said nothing.

She had actually tried to go outside during the first few days, but she hadn't managed to venture more than a few steps outside the building before racing back inside. It was clear that Ash was still terrified of being attacked again.

The nurses realizing this, had tried to assure her that she was safe in town – which Ash discovered was New Bark Town. But even the sight of a tame Pokemon trailing along the heels of its master made her worry. So far, the only Pokemon she had gotten used to were the Chansey who frequently roamed the Pokecenter.

Her behavior struck the nurses as extremely odd. Of course it would. Pokemon were a part of life around here – they were essential, even. The nurses could understand not liking Pokemon, but being terrified?

It took a while, but they finally accepted the story that Ash and Leo hastily weaved together. They were supposedly travelers from a distant country that didn't have any Pokemon. They had heard of a land where fantastic creatures lived alongside humans and enchanted by the tales, they had decided to travel to New Bark Town. They hadn't prepared for any sort of dangerous encounters, which is why they weren't expecting the rattata to attack them.

It was a terribly weak story and the nurses could have asked all sorts of questions. Where exactly where they from? Where was all of their equipment? Why didn't they have any knowledge of the region they were traveling to? Yet despite all the holes in their cover, the nurses didn't press any further.

What they _did_ want to know was what were the two going to do now? It was clear that they weren't prepared to travel any sort of distance – they didn't have the equipment or the protection to do that. But they couldn't stay in the PokeCenter forever and they had to figure out a way home somehow. There seemed to be no solution to their problem.

"Jeez, we're barely going out and you still take ages to get ready."

Leo's taunt snapped Ash out of her thoughts. He had been in the hallway waiting for her to get her stuff together.

"Hold up a second!" she called to him. Quickly adjusting the bed sheets, she gave one last look around the room to make sure she hadn't forgotten anything. As if it would matter, anyway. The only things that she had with her were her cell phone, house keys and wallet - all things that she always kept in her pockets, and all were things that were absolutely useless here. There was no service here (although she had seen the nurses use a cell phone once or twice), she had no home to go back to, and Ash soon realized that American dollars weren't useful here. Nonetheless, she would continue to carry them around with her – they were the only things left from home.

Finished, Ash raced out into the hallway, where Leo was leaning against the wall with his eyes closed. At the sound of her footsteps, he began snoring loudly and obnoxiously. Ash could feel her eye twitch as she resisted the urge to go and smack him. '_He's recovering from an injury. Even if he's asking for it, don't make it worse.'_

She cleared her throat loudly, as Leo pretended to be startled to consciousness. A coy smile played at his lips while he stretched. "Oh, you're finally done. Are you ready to leave, or should I just take another nap?"

Again, Ash forced back the image of hitting him. Instead, she walked past him and led the way to the lobby where she stopped to say good-bye to the nurse.

"Hey, Olivia, we're gunna leave now!" Ash called out.

The nurse hurried over, checking Leo one last time. "Now, make sure you don't push yourself. Rest as soon as you get tired and don't even think about any sort of strenuous activity! We want to make sure your leg recovers as quickly as possible."

Her fretting made Leo blush in embarrassment as he tried to slowly inch his way toward the door. Ash followed, chuckling at his dilemma. Feeling pity on him, she interrupted Olivia while she was in mid-sentence. "Hey, don't worry! I'll make sure he doesn't do anything that would hurt his leg. Besides, we're just walking halfway across town, we're not doing the Olympics."

The nurse gave her a curious glance. "Olympics?"

Ash stared back, confusion riddling her face. "Wait, you've never heard of-"

"Oh, it's just something we have back home. But anyway, we're off!" Leo quickly interrupted as he rushed out the door, dragging Ash behind him. When the doors had safely closed behind them, he turned to her. "You gotta be more careful about stuff like that, Ash. They probably don't have the Olympics here - it's the Pokeathlon, remember? But next time you make a slip like that, it might be something we can't explain, ok?"

At first, a glimmer of anger worked its way into Ash's mind, but she soon realized that his tone was filled with concern. If their cover was blown, it would mean trouble for them both. Her anger left as quickly as it arrived, and she nodded in acceptance.

"Okay, so now that we've covered that, feel free to lead the way!"

Ash stared at him with dumb wonder. "You don't even know how to get there?"

He shrugged. "I was sick."

"You were wounded, not sick. And it's not like you weren't mentally incapacitated – you could've easily asked one of the nurses."

Again, that coy smile turned the corners of his mouth. "Well, as long you know where you're going, we're fine aren't we?"

She shoved him playfully before she began leading the way into town. New Bark Town was nothing like it was in the games. Well, considering that in the games there were literally only four or five building in the whole town, of course it was different. This New Bark was actually a legitimate town, albeit a small one. The PokeCenter was located on what seemed to be one of the more busier streets in town, although only a few cars passed them by. A PokeMart could be seen just a few stores down, and Ash knew from the view in her room that there were a bunch of houses just around the corner. All in all, it didn't seem much different from their own hometown of Birchfall.

Well, if you ignored the Pokemon. Otherwise, it would have felt just like home.

Ash walked with confidence through the streets, although when they passed a person strolling along with a Pokemon, Leo noticed her body tense, as if she was ready to flee or fight if it proved hostile. Of course, they weren't attacked as they made their way through town. The Pokemon here were tame, nothing like the wild Pokemon of the forest.

It was only a ten minute walk to their destination: the New Bark Town Laboratory. Warily, they entered the building and found themselves in a sleek lobby with pristine white walls and shiny tiled floors. A receptionist sat behind a desk, and she dutifully greeted them as the duo approached.

Clearing his throat, Leo nervously began to speak. "Uh yeah, we're here to meet Professor…" He flashed an urgent look at Ash for help.

"Professor Cedar," she finished for him. "The nurses over at the PokeCenter set up an appointment for us to meet him?"

"And what are your names?"

"Ashlyn Sharpe and Leo Blackwell."

The receptionist nodded and tapped away at her keyboard. "Alright, you two are good to go." She pulled out two plastic cards that both read 'GUEST' and gave it to them. "Just clip those onto your shirt."

She then led them through a set of double doors and into a hallway. Most of the doors on each side were closed so they couldn't snatch a look, but several people in white lab coats would pass by them scrawling something furiously on a clipboard or muttering scientific nonsense to themselves.

Leo slowed down slightly so that the receptionist was a few steps ahead and Ash met his pace. He looked around and then whispered in her ear, "I was half expecting the lab to be a single huge room with the Professor waiting for us at the back."

She laughed, the image of the lab from the games fixated in her mind, but then the receptionist glanced back suspiciously at the two of them and Ash immediately silenced herself, shrugging innocently.

Soon enough, the receptionist led them though another set of double doors and into a large room… that closely resembled how the laboratory was portrayed in the games. Ash heard Leo raise a hand to his mouth as he stifled a snort in laughter. "Guess I spoke too soon," he mumbled. This room was much bigger than in the games, and they were surrounded by large machines and the buzz of gadgets and electronics. There were a few Pokemon here and there, but they were all being observed by the scientists while they took notes. One wall of the room was filled with eggs of all shapes and colors neatly stored in glass compartments. Ash stared in awe at this wall – the eggs were marked and colored in such a way that she started guessing which Pokemon would hatch from each one.

"Professor Cedar is that man right there. Just go up to him and introduce yourselves and he'll handle the rest." The receptionist then turned on her heels to go, leaving an awestruck Leo and Ash in her wake.

It was Ash who forced herself to move. "Wait!"

The receptionist turned around, an eyebrow raised.

"I thought we were going to meet the Professor in private? We had an appointment after all…"

A short laugh left the receptionist, making Ash wonder if she said anything wrong.

"The appointment is just a formality, the Professor could never bring himself to just sitting at a desk all day. He insists on doing fieldwork along with the rest of the staff, so you'll just have to keep up with him." At the cautious looks from the two teenagers, the receptionist continued, "Don't worry, he's a really nice guy. He wouldn't do anything to scare you off – besides, he meets with teenagers like yourselves all the time." A quick glance at her watch made her jolt in panic. "But I do have to get going now, take care!" Without another word, she raced out of the room while Ash and Leo awkwardly stood there trying not to get in the way of anybody.

Ash studied the Professor warily. He was a huge man who at first reminded her of a giant – tall and broad-shouldered with hands that looked like they could snap her in half. But upon closer examination, she noted how delicately he handled the Pokemon eggs and how easily he managed the complicated looking instruments around the lab. His head was shaved in a neat crew cut but his chin and upper lip were stubbly with dark hair. Under his white lab coat he was dressed in a blue dress shirt and tie and dark pants, as if he was already prepared to go out for a fancy dinner if needed.

With a silent gesture to Leo to follow, Ash steeled herself and then walked up to the Professor. "Excuse me, Professor Cedar?"

He was carefully examining an egg in some sort of machine – an incubator, Ash guessed. After jotting down a few notes, he turned to them with a hearty smile on his face.

"Ah, Ashlyn and Leo I presume?" His voice was loud and boomed across the room.

"Uh, yessir, that's us. You can just call me Ash," she said hesitantly. It was clear she was a bit daunted by the Professor's overwhelming presence.

"Now, now, none of that 'sir' business! Just call me Professor Cedar. Actually, just call me Cedar. We're all friends here, right?" Without waiting for an answer he hurried off to another section of the room and Ash and Leo cautiously followed.

He led them through the lab until he reached a door that opened up to a grassy enclosed field. Pokemon of all sorts roamed and grazed peacefully amongst each other, and it was all Ash and Leo could do to stop their jaws from hitting their floor.

Noticing their flabbergasted expressions, Cedar chuckled, his eyes filled with pride as they gazed at all the Pokemon. "Amazing, huh? Now I'm guessing you two want to just pick your starters and hurry on off to become masters, but first…"

Ash didn't even hear the rest of what he saying, because she was still caught on something he had said. "Wait, wait, wait," she interrupted, "you mean that you're giving us _Pokemon_?"

Cedar gave them a confused look. "Well, of course. The nurses at the PokeCenter said you two needed Pokemon for protection on your travels. You guys are a bit older than the usual bunch, but aren't you two going to become trainers?"

Surprise hit Ash like a brick to the face. Them, trainers? When the nurses had told Ash and Leo to go to the lab, they had said the Professor would give them some equipment and advice. Ash had had distant dreams that they would receive starter Pokemon, but she hadn't actually expected her dream to turn into reality.

Still shocked, she couldn't even get a word out. It was Leo who spoke for them. "So we're actually receiving starter Pokemon? We get to pick between Cyndaquil, Totadile, and Chikorita?"

Cedar hesitated and then gave them an apologetic shrug. "See, that's where the problem lies. We're running a little low on starter Pokemon – they just haven't been breeding well lately. But out of the starters, I have managed to save a Cyndaquil for one of you."

Leo started back slightly. "You're only giving one of us a Pokemon?" His gaze shifted to Ash, and she gave him a worried look in exchange. He knew her well enough to know that she would kill to have her Pokemon. And she knew him well enough to know that he would do the same.

"No, no," Cedar said quickly, "I can tell already that that wouldn't be a good solution. If one of you are ok with it, I also have an Eevee available as a starter as well."

Beside him, Leo noticed Ash perk up immediately, and he knew that he'd end up getting the Cyndaquil. He smiled slightly to himself; looks like they'd both leave this place with Pokemon that suited them.

It looked as if Cedar noticed this as well because he laughed deeply at Ash's response. "I guess the young lady will be getting the Eevee! Leo, do you have any objections?"

"Not at all."

"Good, because from the looks of it, I don't think she would have given you any other choice." They all laughed at this, Ash and Leo the loudest because they knew it was completely true.

Cedar mocked wiping away a tear. "Now follow me over here, both of your starters will be in the nursery."

They walked alongside the edge of the field to a small building located just off of the main site. Inside were dozens of small Pokemon playing with each other as handlers attempted to control the chaos.

"Go get the Eevee and Cyndaquil," Cedar told the workers, and two handlers immediately raced off to go get them.

As they were waiting, a small Sentret bumped into Ash's leg. With a small shriek, she jumped back nearly knocking over Leo. Her fear of Pokemon had been forgotten over her excitement of receiving a starter, but it all came back in an instant. It was only with Leo's comforting arm wrapped around her that she managed to calm down.

A small part of her mind felt disgusted with herself. She hadn't even been the one attacked and here she was screaming like a little girl while Leo was completely relaxed. It was pitiful.

Another hand placed itself on her shoulder, and Ash looked up to see Cedar, his eyes gentle. "The nurses told me about what happened. It's understandable that you're still scared, but you have nothing to be worried about from these guys. I raised them all myself – they'd never attack another person…" here he paused, thinking it over. "Well, unless you asked it to, but I'm sure you'd never do that."

At that moment, the two handlers came back, each holding a Pokeball and a small backpack. Leo accepted the gifts graciously while Ash did so with a little more caution, as if her Eevee would burst out of the Pokeball and attack at any second.

Cedar clapped his hands to get their attention. "Alright then! Your Pokemon are inside their Pokeballs right now. You can let them out when we go back outside. The backpack and their contents are a gift from myself – just a little something for the both of you to get you started. Check everything later, and ask the nurses or come back and visit me if you don't know what something is or how to use it."

As he talked, he took them out of the nursery and into a more secluded section of the field. "And now, you two can send out your Pokemon."

Ash looked at him, startled. "Just like that?"

"Now or never." Noticing her hesitation, he spoke more gently. "Push the button on the side to make the Pokeball inflate to its full-size. Then just throw the Pokeball onto a surface and on impact the Pokemon will be sent out. The ball will automatically come back to you, so make sure you catch it."

Ash cast a nervous glance at Leo, but he looked eager and ready to go to meet his new Pokemon. Was she really ready for this? Was she really going to become a Pokemon trainer?

"I'll go first, Ash," Leo assured her. She nodded and stepped back.

He pressed the button on the side, his eyes wide at how quickly and easily it expanded in his hand until it was the size of a softball. He looked to Cedar for support, and the Professor nodded encouragingly. Leo took a deep breath, and then lightly underhand tossed it a few feet in front of him. When the Pokeball landed, a bright white light burst from the opened capsule. The light was all jagged and chaotic for a moment before it twisted and formed itself into the shape of a creature. As the light died away, Leo was so stunned that he didn't remember to catch the Pokeball, and it bounced painfully off of his fingers.

Because right there in front of him was a Cyndaquil. _Leo's_ Cyndaquil. It was small thing, possibly only nine or ten inches in length. Its upper half was coated in blue fur and the bottom half was a creamy color. Four red spots were on its back and its eyes were closed to slits.

The Pokemon squeaked in surprise, its head turning around confused. Leo took a step toward it, his arms stretched out as if to pick it up but he suddenly stopped. Turning to Cedar he said, "Will it burn me?"

The Professor shrugged. "For starters, it is actually a she – you got very lucky there. And if she's scared, she'll definitely light up. So keep your hands away from her back and try not to scare her."

Leo nodded gratefully and then got into a crouch. He called out to it, his voice soft and affectionate as if he were talking to a baby or a small child. "Hi there, Cyndaquil! My name is Leo." The Cyndaquil turned to his direction, sniffing carefully. "C'mere girl, I won't hurt you." He kept beckoning like this until eventually, the Cyndaquil was allowing herself to be petted by Leo's gentle caress.

"Hey Ash, this is really nice! Send out your Eevee, I bet it'll be adorable," he urged, a smile lighting up his face.

"Alright," she muttered. _'If Leo can do, I sure as hell can do it also. Besides, it's a baby Eevee. How bad can it be?' _Suddenly, she thought of the first episode of Pokemon where Ash – Ash Ketchum, that is – met his Pikachu for the very first time. It was a disaster.

'_No!'_ she thought fiercely, forcing herself to be optimistic. '_My Eevee is going to be great_."

With a determined mask set on her face, she quickly inflated the Pokeball and tossed it to the ground. The white light that followed didn't blind her as badly as the first time, and she easily caught the Pokeball as it flew back into her hand. As the light faded away, a small Eevee blinked slowly and sniffed the air cautiously. A smile lit up Ash's face. '_Holy shit, it's adorable!_' She stepped forward, ready to greet her Pokemon. "Hey, Eevee, I'm Ash and-"

She was reaching a hand toward the Eevee when it suddenly snapped at her, its tiny fangs missing her hand by a hairsbreadth. A low snarl rumbled in its throat, and Ash stared at it in horror.

'_This name must be cursed…'_


	5. Feel the Burn

_Hello everybody, and thanks for reading! I'd just like to make a quick note and say that I'll be combining chapters one and two into a single chapter. That means this is going to be chapter five, rather than chapter six. _

_Anywho, I hope you enjoy! Please remember to review!_

_I'd also like to thank SSBBUltimate97 for beta-reading this chapter! Thanks again!_

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><p><strong>V; Feel the Burn<strong>

"C'mon Ash, you gotta let it out sooner or later."

"Then how about later?"

The duo were sitting side by side on a bench at a local park. The weather was cool and sunny, and there was barely anybody else here besides them – Leo had thought it a perfect place for Ash to become more acquainted with her Eevee.

It was just yesterday when they had received their Pokemon, and it had taken only about two seconds for Ash's Eevee to decide that it hated its master. While on the other hand, Leo was and his Pokemon had bonded almost immediately.

'_I should have taken the damn Cyndaquil,'_ Ash thought ruefully and not for the first time. Right after her Eevee had snapped at her, she could remember fumbling with the Pokeball until she had finally managed to steady her hand call the Pokemon back into its ball.

There was a whirl of apologies from Professor Cedar afterward and even the offer of taking the Eevee back, but there were no other starters to offer her. It was either the Eevee or nothing.

'_Maybe I would have been better off with nothing, actually.' _She frowned at the compact Pokeball in her hand, her thoughts jumbling around in her head. '_Why me? Why couldn't I get a nice, little Eevee that didn't want to bite my head off?'_

The _whoosh-ing _sound and the bright light of Leo letting out his Pokemon startled Ash back into reality with a jolt. She had been so lost in her thoughts that she hadn't even noticed that Leo had gotten up.

The Cyndaquil let out a little screech of joy at the sight of its master, and it leaped happily into Leo's outstretched arms. Ash did her best to keep a look of envy off of her face as she got up to pet the little Pokemon. As she stroked its soft fur, she tried to look happy for her friend – she had been bitching and griping about her Eevee all day and now she realized how terrible of a friend she was being. She didn't have to be so sullen about_ everything_.

"Your Cyndaquil really likes you," she commented, trying not to sound bitter. From the wince on Leo's face, she realized she must have failed miserably. Before he could say anything, she quickly said, "So, have you decided on a name? I hope you're not going to be boring and just call her Cyndaquil."

A beaming grin lit up his face. "Actually, I'm going to call her Harley."

Ash scrunched up her face in thought. "Harley? As in Harley Quinn?"

"Jackpot, Ashy-girl."

"That's a cute name, although I didn't think you were such a Batman fan."

He shrugged. "I'm not."

Ash rolled her eyes in response, her thoughts drifting back to her Eevee. If she ever managed to let it out of its Pokeball, she would have to name it eventually – no Pokemon of hers would be called by its species name.

Suddenly, she shook her furiously. Why was she thinking of names at a time like this? She couldn't even work out the courage to send out the damn thing.

Brooding, Ash watched as Leo tried to train his Cyndaquil. In his hand was red rectangular machine that flipped open in the same way their DS's did. On the top half was with a picture of his Eevee with data listed beside Harley's picture. On the bottom half were various buttons and controls to navigate the data. He flipped it close again, and Ash saw the gleam of the little orb that jutted out of the side of the machine.

She knew that if it was pointed in the direction of a Pokemon and a certain button was pressed, a light would emit from the orb and scan whatever was in it's range. It would then automatically record and display data on that type of Pokemon. Ash had seen this happen for herself when Cedar had given them their Pokedex's the previous day sometime after he had given them their starters.

After Ash had hastily called back her Eevee, Cedar had them back inside to a machine with a display that had an orb at its top similar to that on the Pokedex. He had them place a finger on a little pad that took their blood, and then the orb took their individual pictures. After the Professor spent a few minutes typing in some information, the machine spit out two shiny cards from a slit.

At first glance, the card looked like a driver's license, but Cedar quickly explained that the cards were their trainer ID's and that they should be sure to carry it around with them wherever they went. Their ID's contained the normal basic information like name, age, date of birth – it was when Ash had read the address that her eyes widened in surprise. "Its says we live here in New Bark Town."

"Specifically at the Pokemon Center," Cedar had pointed out. His eyes told them not to question him any further, and Ash could still feel gratitude welling in her at the memory. "Anyway, you'll notice at the bottom that your Pokemon are listed."

She had glanced back down to her ID, and sure enough, there was a little illustration of an Eevee in a circle at the bottom of the card. Next to the illustration were five other circles, neatly lined up next to each other.

"Those other circles will be of course, for your other Pokemon." Cedar then went on to explain that if they inserted their ID into their Pokedex, then it would automatically update and change the card's information.

He then began to tell them that their blood was required to officially enter them into the Pokemon trainer database and it also worked as a 'genetic marker.' By entering the information from their genetic markers into their IDs, a trainer was then supposed to insert their ID into their Pokedex, thus ensuring that the Pokedex worked for that single trainer only. The genetic markers were also vital for Pokeballs to work as well. Before use, a Pokeball has to be registered to a trainer and to that trainer's genetic marker. Doing this makes it so that when a Pokemon is caught, that Pokemon ends up being loyal to the trainer who caught it and keeps it safe from being caught by other people. The genetic marker was what also allowed the Pokeball to always go back to the trainer who threw it.

When Ash questioned why their Pokeballs had returned to them earlier even though they weren't registered yet, Cedar gave them a small smile. "To be honest, I already registered the Pokeballs to each of you." She had wanted to question how he knew which starter they were going to pick and where he got the blood he needed to register them with, but he had don enough already for them. She wouldn't question him any further.

Afterwards, they left the Laboratory, their new backpacks slung over their shoulders. They had agreed to not let out their Pokemon for the rest of the day, although Ash suspected that Leo only agreed to this for her sake.

And now, they were at the park.

Leo chanced a quick look at Ash, disappointed to see her sullenly staring at the Pokeball in her hand. He would have to do something about that. But this was Harley's time right now.

He flipped open his Pokedex, rereading the data about his Pokemon. _'Cyndaquil, the Fire Mouse Pokemon. __It flares flames from its back to protect itself. The fire burns vigorously if the Pokémon is angry. When it is tired, it sputters with incomplete combustion.__' _He scrolled down the screen, looking at the list of moves that Eevee knew right now. He wasn't sure if here Pokemon were only limited to four moves, but at the point Leo realized it didn't even matter. '_Current Moves: Tackle, Leer.' _He frowned, looking for future moves that Cyndaquil could learn. '_Aha! Let's see, learnset: Smoke Screen, Ember, Quick Attack, Flame Wheel…' _A small grin lit up his face at thought of seeing Harley use Flame Wheel. She was going to be such a badass later on.

Leo looked around for a weak looking Pokemon and was satisfied to see a Pidgey innocently pecking away at the grass just a few feet away. Perfect.

"Hey Ash, watch me and Harley take down that Pidgey! It'll be awesome," he said eagerly.

For a few seconds, she didn't say anything, but then she suddenly looked up with an interested gleam in her eyes. "It's Harley and I."

Leo stared back, confused, and then realized what she meant. "I'll take your Grammar Nazi speech as a sign that you'll be cheering me on." Hearing her laughter in response, Leo quickly went through his backpack and checked to make sure he had a Potion there. The nurses had showed them yesterday how to apply it, and in case things went wrong today, he was prepared.

"Ok Harley, we're going to battle now. You ready, lil' buddy?" he shouted.

The flames on Harley's back roared to life for the first time since she had came into Leo's ownership, and he stepped back in surprise. "_Quil! Quil!" _she cried out eagerly, ready to fight for her master. Leo's eye glowed with pride at the sight of his Cyndaquil, her flames licking the air.

"Alright! Charge that Pidgey and use Tackle!" he called out.

At once, Harley ran forward with her head lowered to use a battering ram. The Pidgey was completely unaware of the danger until it was too late, and Harley tackled it head-on. Squawking in pain, the bird Pokemon was sent flying backward as Leo cheered in the background. "One more time, Harley!"

The Cyndaquil obliged with an eager cry as it ran forward, charging at the Pidgey once more. But this time, the wild Pokemon was ready. The Pidgey flew up into the air and raced at Harley, claws outstretched. Leo realized the danger immediately. "Dodge it!"

Harley attempted to roll to one side, but it was already too late. The Pidgey's claws raked down one side, leaving blood dripping from the thin scratches.

"Shit! You alright, buddy?" Leo called out frantically, scrabbling to get the Potion from his bag. But Harley answered with a loud "_Cyndaquil!" _as her flames roared even higher. He thought back to what the Pokedex entry had said: _It flares flames from its back to protect itself. The fire burns vigorously if the Pokémon is angry. When it is tired, it sputters with incomplete combustion._

'_Alright then, as long as her flames are still going, she'll be fine,' _Leo assured himself. He cast a glance behind him, and met Ash's sturdy gaze. Her fists were curled into tight fists and her mouth was a thin line. She nodded curtly at him, and he replied in turn, renewed motivation running through him as a plan began to form in his mind.

Any previous thoughts of defeating the Pidgey as easily as in the games had been erased from his mind. There was no way he would allow Harley to keep taking hits while she tried to land tackles on that damn bird. It was a shame that she didn't know Ember yet, but that didn't mean her flames couldn't be put to use.

The Pidgey was beginning to fly back around in circle, gathering speed for a second strike. He eyed it warily, and then nodded slightly to himself as if in confirmation of his plan.

"Ok Harley, hold your ground."

The Cyndaquil glanced back once, but then it sturdily planted its feet, staring down the Pidgey as it came closer. It was steadily drawing nearer to the ground, claws outstretched.

"Now, Harley! Run forward!"

She did as asked, darting quickly forward across the ground, the flames on her back flaring with her excitement.

"Jump up!" It was here than Leo worried. He hoped that Harley just wouldn't try to tackle the Pidgey head-on, because then she would have launched herself face first into its claws. But it seemed as if they were on the same wave length, because Harley jumped with her back facing the Pidgey's claws, her body curling slightly so that the bird would meet with the full rage of her flames.

The affect was immediate as Leo's plan worked like a charm. Even though Harley jumped right into the Pidgey's claws, her flames scorched the bird before any harm could come to her. Harley landed neatly her all fours, just as the Pidgey crashed to the ground just a few feet away. Its claws were critically burned with blisters already beginning to form, but that wasn't even the start of it. The Pidgey's bottom feathers had caught fire, and was slowly beginning to spread to the rest of its bed. Its screeches were terrible, terrible things. Leo would hear them in his dreams for a long time.

He was torn between rushing to save the Pidgey and rejoicing in his victory as it died. It was the sight of Harley rushing gleefully toward him, blood dripping from her wound, that made up his mind. He did his best to ignore the Pidgey's dying cries while he checked over Harley's wound, but the stench of it burning to death was near impossible to block out.

"This'll sting a little, ok?" he whispered soothingly to his Cyndaquil. She had extinguished her flames when she drew closer to her master, but as Leo began spraying the Potion over her scratches, the flames ignited briefly with her pain but soon sputtered out as the healing effects of the Potion took over. He could see her ease up with relief as her wounds quickly began closing and a few seconds later all that was left was the dried blood on her fur and very faint scars. He was sure that within a few days, her fur would grow over it and they would cease to be visible.

After the battle, Ash and Leo made the trip back to the Pokecenter. While Ash had finally managed to muster up the courage to release her Eevee, the results were the same as last time. A few snarls and snaps later, Eevee was promptly put back inside his Pokeball.

"Don't worry, Ash. I'm sure he'll come around sooner or later," Leo had said, trying to comfort her. But it didn't really mean much when he was still ecstatic with his victory over the Pidgey. She had tried to feel happy for him – and she really was happy for him – it was hard to show it when her own problems were troubling her so much.

Would she ever be able to bond with her Eevee?

As Ash tried to go to sleep that, it was this thought that continued to run rampant through her mind. She squirmed and fidgeted in her bed, her worries eating away at her and chasing away any hope of a good night's sleep.

"Jeez Ash, you're even keeping me up."

Immediately, Ash froze in place, guilt beginning to bud. Ever since Leo had healed, they were moved into a room with two beds – another sign of the nurses' generosity.

"Sorry," she murmured as she willed herself to stay still.

Silence followed, and Ash thought that Leo had gone back to sleep when he said, "We really should leave soon."

Ash sighed reluctantly. "I know." As much as they enjoyed life here, they couldn't stay in New Bark Town forever. There was no knowledge to be gained here about finding a way back home, and right now – as amazing as this world was - that was their priority. They had asked around about other people like themselves – people from foreign countries with no experience in Pokemon, but they had only received odd looks in return.

They were also both beginning to feel that they were overstaying their welcome at the Pokecenter. Earlier, Ash had overheard two nurses having a conversation about when they were going to leave. With no money to pay them, the duo were only a burden on the people who had taken care of them so well.

"Where do you suppose we should go next?" Ash asked.

"Well, the best place for information is where there's a lot of people, right? So going to Goldenrod makes sense, seeing as it's the biggest city here."

She nodded in response, but a thought was floating through her mind. "Have you thought about battling at the gyms?"

There was rustling sound on Leo's part, and Ash glanced over to see him propped up on one elbow, staring at her intently. "You really think we could do that?"

Immediately, Ash shook her head. "Not we, since my Pokemon hates me. But you could. You completely destroyed that Pidgey earlier, and the first gym specializes in flying-types, remember? And it's in Violet City, which is on the way to Goldenrod."

Although is was dark, Ash could have swore that she saw Leo's eyes gleaming in the dark. Pft, now he definitely was going to want to get the gym badges.

"Yeah, you're right! And it's hella convenient as well. And c'mon Ash, your Eevee won't hate you forever. Once it comes around, you can challenge the gyms also! Hell, we can even have a battle!"

Ash hesitated, but not because she didn't want to fight him, but because she still wasn't sure that her Eevee would ever like her. "I don't know about that, Leo…"

Of course, Leo interpreted that differently. "Hah, you're scared of Harley, aren't ya? That I'm finally going to kick your ass in a battle?"

A short, bark of a laugh left Ash's throat. "Oh please, my Eevee could destroy you in a second. Well, as soon he listens to me. But once he does, we're giving you no mercy!"

"Well, I'm looking forward to it. Good night, Ash."

His sudden change in attitude completely baffled her she watched him roll onto his side with his back facing her. A few seconds later, she understood his reason for taunting her and the meaning of his last sentence.

Now, she was all riled up to fight Leo. To fight him while working together with her Eevee. Just a few minutes earlier, she had found her case hopeless, but now she had renewed motivation to keep trying.

Her worries quelled, she settled into bed, finally relaxed enough to fall asleep.

In a voice to quiet for him to hear, she whispered to herself, "Thanks, Leo," and then gratefully fell into the clutches of sleep.


End file.
